• Question: what is the most deadly gas

    Asked by to Andrew, Ash, Gem, Paige, SJ on 29 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Andrew Thomas

      Andrew Thomas answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      Hi, I don’t know what the most deadly gas is, but I do know that hydrogen sulphide is more toxic than hydrogen cyanide. Thing is hydrogen sulphide smells of rotten eggs so it’s hard to get poisoned by it.

      In terms of the number of people killed per year these days (outside wartime) it’s probably natural gas that you use in the home. When mixed with the air it creates a highly explosive mixture. I don’t know if you saw in the news the other day a small child was killed in Oldham due to a gas explosion. People also die from this gas when it isn’t burned in air properly so it forms carbon monoxide (CO) instead of carbon dioxide (CO2). Basically the gas isn’t getting enough oxygen out of the air. Carbon monoxide is odourless and toxic and has killed people who haven’t had their gas equipment properly serviced.

    • Photo: SarahJayne Boulton

      SarahJayne Boulton answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      While Andrew’s gone for deadly in terms of ‘poisonous’, you could equally argue that maybe something like Argon is the deadliest gas, as you can suffocate in it without realising – technically you drown in it.

      Argon is a very heavy noble gas, it doesn’t have a smell or anything and it is way heavier than what we know as fresh air. If you’re in a room thats filling up with argon, you probably wouldn’t realise straightaway. The dangerous thing is because it’s so heavy, when you breath it in, it sinks to the bottom of your lungs quite quickly, like water would if it got in there. So you go on breathing gradually filling up your lungs from the bottom all the while getting shorter and shorter of breath. Even the normal air you’re trying to breath in doesn’t help as it’s difficult to displace the heavy argon without big physical effort (and at the time, you probably wouldn’t realise what was happening).

      Until BAM.
      You’re out cold on the floor.

      Argon has totally got my vote.

    • Photo: Paige Brown

      Paige Brown answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      I guess there are some very poisonous gases out there that smell terrible, like hydrogen sulphide, so that you know to get away very quickly. The most dangerous gases are those that you can’t detect or smell, so you don’t know you are getting poisoned! Even carbon monoxide is very bad for that reason… people die from carbon monoxide leaks in their house if they don’t have a detector, because you can’t smell or taste it in the air.

    • Photo: Ashley Cadby

      Ashley Cadby answered on 30 Jun 2012:

      Cyclosarin is a toxic gas. Man has made some terrible weapons and some of the worst ( I my opinion are the toxic gases).

    • Photo: Gemma Staite

      Gemma Staite answered on 1 Jul 2012:

      Carbon monoxide is the gas which I would guess is responsible for the most unintentional deaths caused by a gas.

      Personally I would think it is a nerve gas which is the most deadly. So many have been developed as chemical weapons. Their first point of entry (once vapourised) is through the respiratory system, but it can be absorbed through the skin too.

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